By
Adam Simmons
· Last checked
September 2026
You can get a business phone number for a Canadian therapy practice four ways:
Add a second line from your mobile carrier. A real Canadian number on the phone you already carry.
Buy a second handset with its own plan, for complete separation.
Sign up for a virtual number service, an app that gives you a number over the internet.
Use a practice phone built for therapists, such as Rivet. Rivet is ours, so read this page with that in mind.
None of these needs a registered business, a corporation or a business bank account to get the number. Some providers do ask for a business registration before they let you send texts, which is worth checking first.
The difference between them is what happens when you can't answer. A carrier line or handset rings until voicemail picks up. A virtual service or practice phone can send the caller a reply, transcribe the voicemail and keep the thread for you.
What's different about doing this in Canada?
Most setup advice online is written for Americans.
Google Voice isn't available here. Google's help pages say its single-user plans are "only available in the US" (Google Voice subscription types).
Texting can need a registry number. One Canadian reviewer of a US-built service reported being told they needed "a Provincial or Federal Corporation/Registry ID Number" to send texts at all. If you practise under your own name, ask the provider in writing whether you can text.
Calling back can be blocked. Another Canadian set up a US business-phone app and was told their carrier blocked its outgoing caller ID: people could call in, but calls back failed. Test calling out before you publish the number.
A carrier second line is a second plan. Bell's dual SIM page says "you will need two rate plans and will be billed separately for the two lines" (Bell).
What should I ask before I sign up?
Can I call out and send texts as a sole proprietor, without a corporation number?
Where is my data stored, and who can access it?
Can I take this number with me if I leave?
Can the number be reclaimed if I don't use it for a while?
How do I reach a person when the line is broken?
Will you put in writing how you handle client information?
The last two matter more for a therapist than for most businesses, because the obligation lands on you. Ontario's social work College tells registrants to "ensure that client information is stored in a jurisdiction where the privacy laws are consistent with Ontario laws or, where applicable, Canadian federal laws" (OCSWSSW, Interpretation 5.3.1). Nova Scotia's counselling therapy College asks for remote-work platforms "hosted on servers housing data exclusively within Canadian jurisdiction" (NSCCT, Interjurisdictional Telecounselling (Canada)). Alberta's psychology regulator asks for "a written information management agreement" where client information sits in a system outside your control (College of Alberta Psychologists, Standards of Practice).
A provider that won't tell you where the data lives, or won't sign anything about how it handles it, has answered the question for you.
Which one should I pick?
A carrier second line if you want a work number and nothing else, and you'll return calls yourself. It is the simplest thing that reliably works.
A second handset if you need to physically put work down, or a personal device being pulled into a legal process is a live concern in your work.
A virtual number service if several people share the line, or you want features like a shared inbox, and you've checked texting and calling back on a Canadian number.
Rivet if most calls reach you mid-session and you want each caller to get a reply you wrote, the voicemail transcribed, and everything kept on Canadian servers with that client's thread. It is $29 CAD a month for the practice phone, with fourteen days free and no card.
After you have the number
Test it from someone else's phone. Call it, leave a voicemail, send a text, and call back out. Numbers that fail quietly usually get found at a no-show.
Record a greeting that says something useful: when you return calls, what to do in an emergency, and the fastest way to reach you.
Put it everywhere at once: directory profile, website, email signature, invoices, consent form. The usual problem after a new number isn't clients ignoring it. It's handing out the old one out of habit.
About Rivet
Rivet is a Canadian practice line built for therapists — a separate number for calls, texts and voicemail, with video sessions and clinical tools in the same place. Your data stays in Canada, and transcription runs on Rivet's own hardware rather than a third-party AI service.
$29 CAD a month per practitioner for the practice line, or $65 with video sessions and clinical tools. Fourteen-day trial, no card.